Electric-circuit regulator.



G. HONOLD.

ELECTRIC CIRCUIT REGULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 20, I913.

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G. HONOLD. ELECTRIC CIRCUIT REGULATOR. APPUCATION mm 050. 20, ms.

Patented NCV. 9, 1915.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GOTTLOB HONOLD, 0F STUTTGART, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO THE FIRM 0]? ROBERT BOSCH, OF STUTTG-ART, GERMANY.

ELECTRIC-CIRCUIT REGULATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

Application filed December 20, 1913. Serial No. 807,877.

'To all whom it may concern regulators embodying a mass of finely divided resistance material, as grains of carbon, held in a container and sub ected to the variable pressure of a pressure-member responsive to the magnetism of an electro pliable material insulates the pressure-memher from the container.

Furthermore, the pliable strip, assisted if necessary'by a plate spring or a spring structure, guides the pressure-member in movements of substantial parallel translation, so that theresistance mass is subjected to uniform pressure throughout, and so that a minimum move ment of the pressure-member is required in order to produce the desired variation of resistance.

.In the accompanying drawings, illustrat' ing several modifications within my inven tion, Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation of a container for' the-resistance mass; Fig, 2 represents a sectional elevation of one form of my regulator; Fig. 3 represents a sectional elevation of a modified form of ferent form of spring structure; and Fig.

6 is a section on-line 66'of,'Fig. 5. gBeferring to Fig. 1, the cylindrical container'c of metal is provided with a circuit terminal j, for connection to an electric circult. The resistance mass 72., consisting of finely divided material, such as grains of carbon, is in electrical contact with the bottom of the container, but is insulated from the side wall thereof by the sleeve 71 of insulating material such as glass. The pressure-member a of iron, resting on the top of the resistance mass, is responsive to the magnetic attraction of an electromagnet. The outer edge of the pressure-member has "a circumferential groove is in which is fastened a continuous strip 6 of pliable insulating material, preferably tafieta silk, which besides being pliable and insulating, is durable. The strip 6 is laid over the upper edge of the sleeve 15 and a ring of insulating material 2" ,of the width of the sleeve is clamped down on the strip by turning the rim of the container over. the metal ring y, to. thereby securely fasten the outeredge of the strip 6 to the container. A ring 2 of felt or the like is fastened to the underside of the pressure-member in such manner that it slides against the side wall of the container and thereby keeps the particles of the resistance mass a from reaching the pliable strip b. In this way, the insulating properties and the durability of the fabric are not impaired. Inasmuch as the strip 6 is thin, it is held securely in place at its outer edge only by much pressure, and notwithstandingv the fact that the contact surfaces may be machined accurately to fit, the strip may be damaged 'to such an extent as to cause the pressure-member to lose its central position in the container. This difficulty is overcome in the construction shown in Fig. 2 by clamping a downwardly extending part b of the strip 6 between a brass ring it and a ring 6 which is held in place by a comparatively slight pressure by the insulating sleeve (Z of glass. Owing to the extendedsurface of contact on the portion 6' of the strip in the directionof movement of the pressure-member, the edge of the part b of the strip. need only be clamped loosely between the top 9 of the sleeve 03 and the rib f of the container. The edges of these parts are rounded off and thus there is little liability of damaging the material of the strip even if the contact surfaces do not fit so accurately; The inner edge of the strip 71 is securely fastened in the circumferential groove is of the pressure member by pressing a circular groove q in the lower flange p.

The underside of the pressure member is, as in Fig. 1, provided with a felt ring 2,-

and is also provided with a plate 1 of carbon to insure more effective contact with the resistance mass. .If desired, the ring a may be omitted and the downwardly extending por-' tionJn' of the strip pressed directly against the side wall of the container.

The electromagnet m is of the ordinary pot form, and its winding is connected to acircuit to be regulated in thewell known way. The shaft of metal, extending freely through the central bore 1*, is suspended by an insulated connection from' the plate springs, whichis fastened to an extension oscillated as aresult of the magnetic attrac-' tion. In some cases, the amount of move.

ment of the pressure-member a is-of such small magnitude that the strip 6- alone may serve to maintain the pressure-member in central position in the container and to guide the pressure-member in movements of substantial parallel translation. However,-

the plate spring 8' renders this movement more nearly precise, especiallyif the spring is locatedas far as possible away from' the strip 1), and this action is obtained without 1 and circuit terminal I materially increasing the-substantially frictionless movement of the pressure .armature.- In those cases in which the spring 8 is ofnitted, it is necessary to provide-a spring or an equivalent device for op theLattrac-T tion on the pr e-mem er.

" 461 The curren to be regulated by the resistance mass l2, passes from the circuit-ten minal j, through the bottom. of the container' c, and then with substantially uniform density through therre'sistanc mass into the pressure-membera, from which it leaves the regulator by way of the shaft'o The construction embodied in Fig, 3 will now be understood from 'the foregoing.

However, the container c and the magnet 71 have a modified arrangement, while the plate spring .s is supported on insulatingmaterial carriedby themagnet and in con--- tact with a cover 23 which is provided with the clrcuit terminal 7'.

1 spring structure u, 'u is used for assisting the strip 1) inpositioning'and guiding; thepressure-member a. The. spring. 1 consists of a tongue '10,, formed from a disk, and extending to the center of the regulator. The spring u is, like the/spring plate 8 of Figs. 2 and 3, secured at its edge. The free end of the tongue u, is held in a ring to, which is loosely fnoimted on a part a: of reduced section of the shaft. The closed yoke spring 1) is also pressed into the ring w, and it is provided with an adjustable tensioning device as shown. The guiding device assisting thestrip 6 to position the pressure armature a is, in this case, the leaf spring u which is tensioned on one side and whose arm has a length so chosen that the tilting, which results from the circular movement of its free end, practically'disappears as a result of the slight movement of the pressure armature. Instead of employing a spring tensioned on one side, a yoke spring u" tensioned on both sides may be used as shown in Figs, 5 and 6, and in this case there is a support for the armature shaft 0 and a spring action opposing the attraction on the pressure member, so that a' susbtantially frictionless movement-of the pressure member is obtained. By providing a spring-supporting structure such as shown in Fig. 4, which in itself is capableof guiding the pressure-member in movements of sive amount of friction Reference is made to my copending' application Serial No. 800,765 filed November "13,1913, which is directed to various 'means -forpreventing shifting of the resistance mass upon movements of the pressure member.

whatIclaim is:

1. In a regulator for electric circuits, a mass of finely divided resistance material, a container for-the resistance mass, an electromagnet having a magnetically-responsivet pressure-member effective on the re- Having thus described my invention,

substantially paralleltranslation, it is pos-' 'sible to arrange the spring structure closer 'to the strip 6 without introducing an excessistance mass to vary the resistance thereof,

rand-a 'strip of pliable insulating material interposed betweenlthe periphery ofthe' pressurermember and the side-wall of the cont'aine'r to complete the closure for the resist aneema'ss and to form a substantially frictionless guide for. the pressure member; substantially as-described; 2. ha regulator for. electric circuits, a

of finely divided-resistance material, a contamer for the resistance mass, an electromagnet having a magnetically-responsive premure-member efiective on the resistance mass to vary the resistance thereof,

7 f v and a continuous strip of pliableinsulating .In the mod fication shown in Fig. 4, a.

material having its inner edge held in a' peripheral recess in the" pressure-member and having its outer edge fastened in-the form a substantially frictionless guide for .the pressure member; substantially as described. I

3. In a regulator for electric circuits, a mass of finely divided resistance material, an electrically conducting container for the mass, a sleeve of insulating material extending along the inside surface of the container from the base thereof to substantially the level of top of the resistance mass, an electromagnet having a magneticallyresponsive pressure-member effective on the resistance mass to vary the resistance thereof, and a strip of pliable insulating material fastened to the pressure-member and held between the insulating ring and the side wall of the container so as to complete the closure for the resistance mass and to form a substantially frictionless guide for the pressure member; substantially as described.

4. In a regulator for electric circuits, a mass of finely divided resistance material,

a container for the resistance mass, an electromagnet having a magnetically-responsive pressure-member effective on the resistance mass to vary the resistance thereof, and a strip of woven fabric of insulating material fastened to the pressure-member and to the container so as to complete the closurefor the resistance mass and to form a substantially frictionless guide for the pressure-member; substantially as described.

5. In a regulator for electric circuits, a mass of finely divided resistance material, a container for the resistance mass, an electromagnet having a magnetically-responsive pressure-member effective on the resistance mass to vary the resistance thereof, and a continuous strip of taffeta silk having its inner edge clamped in a peripheral groove in the pressure-member and having its outer edge fastened to the contalner so as to complete the closure for the resistance mass and to form a substantially friction- 'less guide for the pressure-member; substantially as described.

6. In a regulator for electric circuits, a mass of finely divided resistance material, a container for the resistance mass, an electromagnet having a magnetically-responsive pressure-member effective on the resist ance mass to vary the resistance thereof, and. a strip of pliable insulating material interposed between the periphery of the pressure-member and the side wall of mntainer to complete the closure for the siStfllHQ mass and to form. substantially frictionless guide for the pressureanembea, said pressure-member carrying around i edge a strip of material extending to Fade wall of the container to keep the re:

ance material from the pliable strip; substantially as described.

7. In a regulator for electric circuits, a mass of finely divided resistance material, a container for the resistance mass, an electromagnet having a magnetically-responsive pressure-member effective on the resistance mass to vary the resistance thereof, and a strip of pliable insulating material interposed between the periphery of the pressure-member andthe side Wall of the container to complete the closure for the resistance mass and to form a substantially frictionless guide for the pressure-member, said pressure-member carrying a carbon plate in contact with the resistance mass and also carrying around its edge a strip extending to the side wall of the container to keep the resistance material from the pliable strip; substantially as described.

8. In a regulator for electric circuits, a mass of finely divided resistance material, a container for the resistance mass, an electromagnet having a magnetically-responsive pressure member effective on the resistance mass to vary the resistance thereof, a strip of pliable insulating material interposed. between the periphery of the pressure-member and the side Wall of the container to complete the closure for the resistance mass, and a resilient plate separated from the pliable strip and effective therewith to guide the pressure-member in movements of substantial parallel translation; substantially as described.

9. In a regulator for electric circuits, a mass of finely divided resistance material, an electrically conducting container for the mass, a sleeve of insulating material extending along the inside surface of the container from the base thereof to substantially the level of the top of the resistance, an electromagnet having a magnetically responsive pressure-member effective on the resistance mass to vary the resistance thereof, a strip of pliable insulating material having its inner edge fastened in a peripheral groove in the pressure-member and having its outer edge held between the insulating ring and the side wall of the container so as to complete the closure for the resistance mass, and a plate spring separated from the pliable strip and effective therewith to guide the pressure-member in movements of substantial parallel translation; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signai'ure, in presence of two witnesses.

GOTTLOB HONOLD.

ii itn csses PAUL VVOLFART, I'IERMANN SCHNEIDER. 

